Vancouver police crack down on unsafe trucks

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VANCOUVER, B.C. — Ninety commercial vehicles have been taken out-of-service after a recent two-day collaborative inspection blitz headed up by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).

A total of 200 inspections were undertaken by the VPD and other provincial agencies involved in the blitz, namely the RCMP, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation, the Port of Vancouver, and the Insurance Corp. of B.C. The commercial vehicles that were targeted were measured in “units” which could be a truck, a trailer or a tractor-trailer.

“Inspectors have been focusing on trucks that appear to be poorly-maintained and have visible signs of neglect,” Cst. Jana McGuinness, a media relations officer for the VPD, told Trucknews.com.

“Drivers were pulled off the road and ticketed for a variety of offences relating to inadequate braking, steering, structural defects, bald tires, and broken lights. The objective of these inspections is to ensure that truckers are taking all the right steps to make it safer on the road for themselves and everyone else.”

One driver was issued a roadside suspension from driving for impairment by drugs, according to McGuinness, who also noted that the overall “out-of-service” rate was approximately 45%.

“Inspectors involved in the campaign have commented that it is important to make the distinction (that) there are bad apples out there, and that these results are not a reflection in any way, on the industry as a whole,” said McGuinness.

The media relations officer emphasized that the out-of-service rates appear high due to the fact that the “inspectors are targeting trucks with obvious signs of disrepair and neglect: not all trucks on the road.”

For example, one inspection revealed that the tractor unit had eight out-of-service violations.

“Any one of those violations could have it taken off the road and it had eight in total,” said McGuinness, who also noted that another inspection revealed that four out of six brakes on a tractor unit were defective, which also had a broken wheel stud.

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